The Story Of Their Lives
by Aramus Shurtugal
Summary: Chelsea moves to Sunny Island because she feels ready. Vaughn takes a new job to get away from the city. Vaughn/Chelsea
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so inspiration came for this when I was playing Harvest Moon Sunshine Island, and met Vaughn, I was like whoa(To put it lightly).

I didn't have a beta, so all mistakes are my own, and they will always be my own, so point out my flaws.

So I decided to do a story from the very day that Chelsea came to the island, so without further ado, I give you:

Chapter One

"Name, dear?"

Chelsea looked up at the inn clerk and gave a warm smile to the middle-aged woman.

"Chelsea Lumbus."

The clerk nodded and jotted it down at the form in front of her before looking back up and smiling at the obviously nervous young woman.

"How large of a room do you need?"

Chelsea had to think for a second before remembering that it was just her, she was so used to it being her entire family. She silently laughed at herself before looking up at the clerk, who was patiently waiting.

"One, with one bed, please. I'll be staying a few weeks."

The clerk smile again and jotted the information down.

"That will cost you one thousand gold up front, and two thousand at the end of your stay, for security."

Chelsea sighed sadly to herself before reaching into her purse and pulling out her wallet, she counted out the money and handed it over to the clerk, she had found it harder to let money leave her possession than before. The clerk slid a key over to her along with a small envelope, Chelsea picked them both up and clutched them lightly in her hand.

"Yours is the one straight to your left, have a good stay."

Chelsea thanked the woman profusely before hitching her knapsack higher up on her back and striding over to her room. She took the key and unlocked the door with little frustration on her part, she usually couldn't open a locked door worth anything. She went in and closed the door before looking around curiously. The bed adorned with white sheets and a blue blanket sat in the upper left corner. Right in front of her was a table with a bell on it, she guessed that it was for room service. A few potted plants were dotted randomly in the room, which was a decent size, clean, and had a fresh smell to it.

She set her knapsack down on the bed and quickly checked that nothing had been stolen on the short boat ride, it wasn't that she was accusing anyone, but a few of the people on that boat had looked suspicious. Happy that everything was in place, she took her bandanna off and took her brush out of her knapsack, she ran it through her hair for something to do before frowning and tossing the brush almost angrily down on the bed. She was here for something important, might as well get it done as soon as possible before delaying the inevitable. Frustrated, she tied her bandanna around her face and tucked a few wisps of her light brown hair into it. She looked at a picture hanging on the wall and used the glass as a mirror. Satisfied that she looked presentable, she opened the door, not forgetting the key, and locked it behind her, not that she thought that she needed to, but she had some valuables with her, and she didn't want to lose them. With a nod and a lighthearted smile to the clerk she left the inn and stepped into the sunlight. She looked for a second around before setting off towards the bridge to her right, it seemed like a good place to start.

The sound of her red rubber boots thonking on the wooden planks beat in time with her anxious thoughts, what if Taro didn't think that she was qualified? She instantly quelled that thought with the knowledge that she had good experience, her parents were both ranchers and she had grown up raising crops and animals. What if she didn't have enough gold? No, she shook that thought from her mind with a pat to her purse, which held her wallet, which held several hundred thousand gold which she was going to use to buy the island ranch. She hoped that the islanders would like her, she was a naturally friendly person, though she could appear uncaring sometimes when she was tired. From what she had heard from one of the ranch hands, the people were friendly, easy to get along with, and needed a rancher. No one wanted to go because of the storms that pounded the island during summer and winter, apparently one such storm had ruined the islands and destroyed all the building. She was hoping against hope that the ranch had a house, that was why she had said that she was going to stay a few weeks to the clerk, if the ranch didn't have a house then she could ask the island carpenter to build one.

Realizing that she had stopped walking in all of her thinking, she turned to the nearest sign and read it once, then read it again. 'Taro's House' it read and she had ti stare at it for a few seconds before comprehending that she had arrived at her destination without even remembering how she had gotten there. Not one to mess with Lady Luck, she shrugged and stepped up to the forbidding looking, to her, door. It was yellow, which seemed like a sign as one of her favorite colors was yellow. The roof of the house was yellow, she noticed a shed off to the left of the house and wondered briefly what it was for before bringing herself to the fact that her hand was in a fist, raised, and she wasn't knocking. She frowned at herself, and with some worry for what they were going to say, knocked once forcefully. When the door opened she stated in a quiet voice.

"My name is Chelsea Lumbus, and I'm here to buy the ranch."

Dun, dun, dun, dun! How was it? I tried to make it as long as I could, but it's late, I'm tired, and I really wanted to write this down. I've made a deal with myself that a chapter will be no less than 1,000 words long, so if not *Slides finger across neck.* Chelsea's last name is pronounced like Columbus, only without the Co. It is a real last name, you can even look it up.

I hope that you liked it, because I slaved away over a hot computer to write this.

R&R Please!


	2. Chapter Two

Sooooo, long wait between update, I have no excuse either... But I am sorry!

Chapter Two

The sun rose over the blue horizon, waking the new rancher up as it slanted through her window and across her eyes. With an unhappy groan she rolled over and pulled the blanket over her head. Then her alarm clock went off, knowing herself Chelsea had put it across the one room house so that way she would have to get up and turn it off. She rolled back over onto her back and pushed the comforter away. Chelsea stretched as she walked over to the table she had put the alarm clock on, she clicked it off and turned to her small kitchen to prepare her breakfast. Popping a bowl of instant oatmeal in the microwave, she opened her dresser drawers and picked a blue quarter sleeve shirt and green Capri's to change into and stepped behind her dressing screen.

At about the same time, she finished changing and the microwave dinged. She grabbed a spoon from her utensil drawer and sat down on the only chair at her small breakfast table. She ate as slowly as she could, enjoying the cinnamon she had put in. Too soon for her liking, she was scraping the last bit of oatmeal from the sides of the bowl. Chelsea set the bowl and spoon the sink promising herself that she would wash them later. She grabbed a couple of energy bars for lunch and put them in her backpack. She pushed open the heavy door and took a quick deep breath of the fresh island air.

From the tools leaning up against the small house Chelsea picked up her full watering can, she had filled it up last night before going to bed. She watered her eighteen turnip plants and nine potato plants, filling up the watering can before putting it next to her tools again. She picked up the hoe and weeded her crops, being especially careful to not cut her plants like she accidentally had a few weeks ago.

A little over an hour later she leaned her hoe against her house again and surveyed her crops, wishing just a bit that she had a hired hand. She slashed the water from the spring over her hot arms and face, cleaning a small bit of the grime from her before going to see the people in town and try to find something to sell, there were always some odds and ends on the beach and around the small town split over two island.

With a spring in her step, Chelsea crossed over onto Verdure island. She said a quick greeting to Talo and Elliot, who were arguing outside of their house, over what she didn't want to know. She gathered a few herbs off the ground by Talo's place. She went down by the beach and said hello to Martin, who probably didn't hear her since he was pulling in a fish. She picked up some pretty shells and a sea urchin, the latter of which she was careful to not prick herself. She smiled as the bell above Mirabelle's animal shop door dinged.

"Chelsea."Julia's exuberant greeting was accompanied by a tight hug."I thought that you weren't going to come, you do know that it's lunch time already? Come in and have it with me and mom."

She nodded and Julia dragged her into the kitchen, her nose twitched as the smell of bacon reached her. Julia practically shoved her into an empty chair before sitting down next to her.

"Julia invite you to dinner, dear?"

"Dinner?"She asked, confused slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear, my family has always called it dinner instead of lunch."

"Yes, she did, though I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to refuse."

Mirabelle laughed for a bit as the bacon finished cooking.

"Aye, she can get rather demanding."

"I am still here you know."

Chelsea and Mirabelle laughed together.

"Of course I knew you were there. But,"Chelsea winked at her best friend."What's the fun in that? By the way, what's for lunch Mirabelle?"

Julia answered for her mother, which most likely annoyed Mirabelle greatly.

"We're having BLT's."

Chelsea frowned in concentration, B would most likely stand for bacon, there was lettuce on the cutting board next to sliced tomatoes.

"Bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes? What are those?"

Julia looked incredulously at Chelsea.

"You know what it stands for but not what it is?"

Chelsea shook her head vehemently.

"No, I just smelled the bacon and saw the lettuce and tomato, if your as observant as me then you know how to figure stuff like this out. But what is a BLT?"

Julia shook her head in exasperation, Chelsea was always saying how observant she was, it was her excuse for _everything_.

"It's a sandwich with bacon, lettuce, and tomato, I put condiments on it, but mom has it plain."

"Sounds good. Is it almost-"

"Ready."Mirabelle set a plate with five sandwiches on it down at the table, sitting across from the Chelsea and Julia. Chelsea stared at the creations before her, on wheat bread(She would have preferred white, but she was fine with wheat)With an abounding amount of bacon on each, her mouth started watering and she grabbed two and set them on the plate in front of her. She took and bite and instantly fell in love, she tore through her sandwiches, finishing two in the time it took then to finish one. Julia picked at hers as if it was no longer satisfying.

"So, my cousin should be coming tomorrow."

Chelsea took a gulp of water from her glass before answering.

"The one who dresses up as a cowboy?"

Julia glared at her before taking a bite of her BLT.

"Yes. Vaughn is coming tomorrow, don't talk to him, he's not a very social person."

"Got it. I gotta finish my rounds now, thanks for the lunch Mirabelle."

"Rounds?"Julia laughed."You sound like a lawman in one of those old westerns you like so much."

She waved as she left, calling from the door.

"Which is why I said it!"

* * *

Okay, don't shoot me! I didn't mean for this to take so long, but MMO's are not healthy for writers. ;)

Please tell me what you all think of it, it took me my whole day to write.(Well, not aallll of it, but most of it ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I've suddenly gotten a writing _**fever!**_ Strange... Huh?

Chapter Three

Chelsea tossed a turnip up in the air and caught it, she continued to do so as she walked down from her ranch to Mirabelle's(She spent most of the time she didn't use up working on her ranch at Mirabelle's, helping out, chatting with Julia). Feeling slightly more adventurous than usual, she started tossing the turnip a little higher each throw, occasionally having to bend backwards to catch it.

"Mornin', Chelsea."

Chen called out of his open window as he snapped a rolled up, wet towel straight. Chelsea wished that she could snap a towel, but was satisfied for the moment with her turnip tossing. She tossed her turnip back up before replying.

"Mornin', mornin', Chen!"

She yelled enthusiastically back, catching the turnip and tossing it one more time, watching it sail through the air.

"Chelsea, what are you doing, dear?"

Chelsea turned to Mirabelle, who was beating a rug hanging up on the clothesline to death, and caught the turnip behind her back without looking, to the admiration of Charlie and Eliza; who watched her with nothing short of hero worship. She held the vegetable up triumphantly.

"Look what I harvested this morning, beauty of a turnip, no?"

Mirabelle stopped in her beating of the rug long enough to study the turnip the younger woman held aloft. It_ was_ a beauty of a turnip, pure white, the top of the greenest green, huge in size, the kind of vegetable that just looking at, made ones mouth water.

"I suppose so, never grown turnips before, but that turnip looks scrumptious, darlin'."

"Gotta show it off to Taro, then I'll come visitin'." She shouted to Mirabelle, who nodded and commenced with beating the rug to death once more. Chelsea entered Taro's house without knocking, the old man (As she affectionately called Taro) would yell at her 'somethin' fierce' but she knew that he was all bark and no bite, at least, until he started swinging his cane around.

* * *

Taro was, for some reason, not very pleased with her turnip, or her good humor of the day. He spared the turnip a glance, said something about it being cloudy tomorrow and absentmindedly began to pick books off his library shelf. Chelsea shrugged it of like water off a ducks back; said a greeting to Elliot and Felicia and promptly left (The call of Julia's company and Mirabelle's cooking were stronger than her sense of socializing).

She strode out of Taro's house with a spring in her step. She stopped just outside the door and took in a deep breath of the clean ocean air. Whistling a jaunty tune, she meandered toward Mirabelle's. Usually, she would do her chores first(Pulling the weeds around town and checking on the herb patches. not to mention the amount of fish she could catch; she rivaled Denny), but today she felt like having a good long visit with Julia, help out by cleaning the barn or taking care of the few animals that Mirabelle did have.

_Speaking of which, Vaughn's arriving today, wonder what he's like._

Mirabelle had finished with the rug by the time Chelsea had stopped to chat for a bit with Chen and Denny, the latter bragged that he had caught a twenty pounder, to which she replied that she was sure that she had caught a twenty-five pounder(Though in truth it had been a puny fifteen pounder). Denny had walked out of Chen's with a steely look in his eyes, a challenge thrown over his shoulder as he left.

"Julia, I'm home!"She called out in her best Ricky Ricardo voice. "And you wouldn't believe what I picked this morning."

Julia stuck her head in from the doorway leading to the barnyardm clipboard clutched tightly in her right hand, a pen in her left. As she attempted to talk with Chelsea and give orders to a crew in the back, which was getting the flattened ground in between the barn and the house ready for Julia's birthday party. Her conversation mixed with commands tosome of the crew in the back and chatty replies to Chelsea.

"If it's that turnip mom's been ranting about I'm not interested. -Hey! Careful with that, took my mother months to make that cake, you break it, you buy it.-"

Chelsea moved into the kitchen and washed her hands, shaking them to dry them as she slammed the door to the barn shut behind her.

"Did it really take your mom _months_ to make that cake? And that is such an old threat, how does it even work?"

Julia shook her head at her friend's questions, roaring out some commands that her friend really couldn't understand, as half of it was threats and the other half was unintelligible.

"Julia, give the man a break, he's probably scared out of his wits, hoping to keep this job, and at his wits end. Hey," Chelsea suddenly said, remembering an earlier thought."isn't your cousin, animal trader, cowboy cousin dude getting here today?"

Julia paused in her order-giving long enough to answer.

"You realize you said cousin twice?" To Chelsea's shrug she frowned. "Fine, and you were being contradictory by calling him both a cowboy and a dude. And yes, he is coming today, so be on your best behavior, and ignore him."

Chelsea tilted her head from side to side as she thought about what her friend had said.

"How can I be on my best behavior and ignore him? It's..."

When Chelsea couldn't think of the right words Julia supplied her with it.

"Contrary?"

"Yeah," Chelsea said slowly. "contrary."

"Trust me on this, when you meet my cousin, you'll want to ignore him, he's very unsociable."

"Alright, alright already, I'll 'be on my best behavior and ignore him'. Yeesh." She paused for a moment. "But it's still so contrary..."

* * *

While Julia planned her birthday party and Chelsea discussed contradictions, Vaughn Colby Vaquero was getting his first impression of the Sunshine Island chain charm.

_To be continued...!_

**A/N:** If you're bored, you can look up Vaughn's name, if not, then meh, have fun with reading more stuff(Or whatever it is you do...)_  
_


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